


Hope's Light

by ArtistRanger



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING HOLY THIS IS AN AU, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:33:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25408456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtistRanger/pseuds/ArtistRanger
Summary: Jessica Winters finally gets away from her step mother and completes her promise to her father to become a Spartan. Along the way she meets her amazing team and finds love.
Relationships: John-117 | Master Chief & Original Female Character(s)





	Hope's Light

I climb out of the highest window in the house and onto the roof. I look out to the world around me covered in darkness with lights coming from the windows from the houses around me. Tears start streaming down my face and unsheathe my knife, “I can’t do this anymore. I don’t deserve to live. I just want to be with dad.” I say to no one in particular. My phone rings just before I cut deeply into my wrist. “Hello?” I try to steady my voice and my breathing. An older man, who’s voice I vaguely remember, on the phone says, “Is this Jessica Winters?” I respond, “Yes, May I ask who’s calling?” I can hear him smiling, “It’s Bob Emery. A good friend of your father from his military days” I feel myself smile, right, dad’s friend from the military, “Yes, Sergeant Emery. How can I help you?” I ask. “You came in to try to test into the Spartan program. And I was calling you to tell you that you got into the program.” I pause for a moment taking in what I just heard, “Really? I got in?” He responds frankly, “Yes, and I’m picking you up tomorrow morning along with the rest of your team. Be completely packed and ready to go when I get there.” I sheath my knife, “Yes sir. See you tomorrow.” I hang up the phone and shout with glee. I’m out of this place for good and I get to follow my father’s footsteps. James Winters, one of the best known Spartans, second to only the Master Chief, when he was still alive. I wonder if I’m gonna meet him, the Master Chief that is. I get up and swing myself into the attuck one of my friends that I work with looks at me, “You look like you're a thousand times better.” I smile at him, “Yep, I’m getting out of this hell hole, Danny! I just got the call that I got into the Spartan program.” He yips with glee and grabs me and swings me around, “I’m so happy for you! We will send you care packages and letters during your run.” I smile, “I would expect nothing less from you guys.” After I tell the rest of the staff and celebrate my escape, I walk into my room and pack up everything I can, my journal, my toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, and a couple of knickknacks. I look at the picture of my dad on my bedside table, “I got in, dad. I’ll be a Spartan, just like you, finally.” I change into my pj’s and fall asleep smiling for the first time in what feels like years.

The next day, I wake up and get dressed with an extra bounce in my step. Today, I finally get to leave this hell hole of a house and join the army as a Spartan. I finish packing up a few items, including a picture of my father, and walk out of my room, getting ready to start my day. I walk into the kitchen putting my long, auburn hair in a ponytail and joke around with the kitchen staff. I pick up the tray with the five plates: two with sunny side up style eggs, sausage patties, and hash browns; one plate with scrambled eggs, sliced apples, and bacon; one plate with an omelette with mushrooms and bell peppers, bacon, and mango on the side; and the last plate was an omelette with potatoes, apples, and broccoli. Each plate comes with coffee the exact same way, a tablespoon of heavy cream and a single sugar cube, stirred. I put each of the plates and cups of coffee on a tray and walk out to the dining room where my step-mother and my four older sisters are sitting. I place each plate and a cup of coffee in front of the proper person and walk into the kitchen and start to wash the pots and pans I used for breakfast. My step-mother walks in a few minutes later with a sour look on her face, “What is your deal?” I look at her confused, “What? I can’t be in a good mood?” I say politely with a hint of bitterness behind my voice. She gives me a look and walks out. I get a message and look down, it’s almost time for me to go. I quickly eat a bowl of cheerios and down a large cup of black coffee and get my bag from my room as the doorbell rings. My mother opens the door, “May I help you?” I hear an older man at the door as I walk up, “My name is Sergeant Bob Ermey I’m here to pick up Jessica Winters for Boot Camp.” I push past my mother, “I am here and ready to go, Sir!” I stand in front of him and Salute. He smiles, “At ease, soldier.” He winks at me, “Master Chief is waiting in the car sit directly behind him.” I relax, smiling “Yes sir.” My mother puts her hand on my shoulder, I feel her long claws digging in, and I feel my smile fade “You are not going anywhere.” I’m frozen as the Master Chief strides up, in full armor, behind the Sargent, “She signed up and got in, she’s coming. Come on, Winters” He says almost growls, taking my bag and walks to the car. I escape from her grip and follow him to the car and hop in the back of the warthog, slightly freaking out, “Um… thank you,… sir...?” He hops in the driver’s seat, putting my bag in the back, and turns to me, “I read your file, I knew someone would need to stick up for you, so Sarge and I took that on. After Sarge showed me your test results, we agreed that with a bit training you could be one of our best soldiers.” The Sargent comes to the car and gets into the front passenger seat, “Your step mother is sure… persistent.” I nod laughing trying to calm myself down, “Yeah, she certainly can be. Especially when it comes to taking me away from her.” Both the Master Chief and the Sargent laugh. “No kidding. Anyways, we still have to pick up the rest of the people on the team you will be training with.” Master Chief says still chuckling.

I nod as the car starts to drive away, I look towards my house and my mother is glaring at me through the window and my friends waving me off from the second floor. I can’t stop thinking about my future and what lies ahead for me. I feel an overwhelming sense of relief as we pull up to the next house. The Sergeant walks up to the next door and Master Chief turns around, “You can call me Chief. You’re being put on the blue team, you and your team will have the rest of the day to unpack, get used to your new quarters, and get prepared for the start of training.” I nod still half in my thoughts. The next member of my group hops in the back of the warthog with me, putting his bag next to mine and sitting next to me. He’s tall, muscular, and broad shouldered, with sandy blonde hair and electric blue eyes. He slings his arm around my shoulders as we take off to the next house, “Hi babe, you come here often?” I roll my eyes, laughing, “Really? That’s how you want to start this off?” A smile brightens up his face, “Nah, I just wanted to try it. I’m Dick Butler by the way.” I shake his hand, “Jessi Winters. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He leans back, “Oh trust me darling, the pleasure is all mine.” He winks at me, I giggle at his careless, and shameless, flirting. We pull up to the next house and the next guy comes out. He’s shorter and slimmer then Dick with red hair and bright emerald eyes. He hops into the back and sits down on the other side of me, “And who might you be, little lady?” He says with his thick Scottish accent, I giggle again, “I’m Jessi and he’s Dick.” He smiles and his dimples show, “Is that your name or personality” he winks at me and I giggle, “I’m Devon O’Connor but you can call me Dev” Dick nods his head, “Well Dev, I think we will we’ll get along just fine.” We pull up to the next house two boys come out of this house. They both have light brown hair and Onyx eyes. Dev says, “Well then. We’ve got twins.” They hop in and sit across from the three of us, one of them says, “Hi I’m Corey and he’s Flynn. He’s pretty quiet so don’t expect him to talk.” Flynn hits his brother, “Shut the fuck up, dude” he rolls his eyes. Dick whispers in my ear, “They’ve got some family issues” I try to stifle a laugh. We pull up to the next house and a guy comes out with black hair and indigo eyes. He hops into the car and flops down, “Name’s Alex.” Corey glares at him, “Aren’t we talkative today.” I glare at Corey, “Welcome to the party. I’m Jessi, the twins are Corey and Flynn, The guy to my left is Dick, and the guy to my right is Dev.” He nods. We pull up to the last house and a dark blonde haired dashes out of the house, being chased by a screaming woman. I tense up and Dick tightens his grip around my shoulders and whispers in my ear, “You ok, Jess?” I nod, “Yeah, I just understand what this guy is going through.” I look down as he jumps in the car. The Sarge jumps into shotgun and tells Chief to floor it and he does. The new guy shouts at the woman chasing after the car, “Go fuck yourself you bitch!” He sits down next to Alex and sighs, “Sorry about that guys, I’m Zach, who are you all.” We all introduce ourselves and talk about anything and anything till we get back to the base. I didn’t realize till we got to the Base that Zack had cloud grey eyes. 

We all line up with the rest of the teams in our training group, saluting Sarge and Chief as they look at us. I actually get a good look at the two men. The Sergeant is an averagely tall man with broad shoulders, older but very obvious he has made the Military his life. Chief is inhumanity tall, like seven feet tall, and very fit, that’s all I can tell, he’s in his armor and I can’t see his face. Sarge yells, “At ease soldiers! After tonight you are mine! I will break each and every one of you down to the bare bones then build you back up stronger than ever. Starting tomorrow, there will be three days of intense training designed to break you physically, break you mentally, and break your soul. After that you will have a few days to recuperate, then you will be slowly built back up, as one with your team.” Chief speaks up, “After that you will get the augmentation surgery. After the surgery, You will be handed to me and will trained in hand to hand and gun training getting used to your new bodies. Then you will be given suits like mine and you will train with them. After that, you will start your new life as Spartans. Go get some rest. Starting tomorrow we start the breaking process of each of you. You will need all of the rest you can get.” All of us shout in unison, “Sir, yes, sir!” Sarge and Chief shout back in unison, “Dismissed!” We all take our bags and walk into our room, it’s small with four bunk beds. I shout, “dibs on no bunkmate.” They all start to put up a fight, I say, “I am the only girl here, you all can suck it up.” They all murmur complaints but pick bunks. We all are so tired and fall asleep instantly.

At about 3 am, Sarge comes in shouting for us to get up. We all jump up and stand straight in front of our bunks, “You have 10 minutes to get dressed and make your bed. If one of you is not in this formation when I get back you all will have consequences.” We all shout, “Sir, yes, sir!” And he walks out and we all change into our new uniforms; green camo pants, white short sleeved t-shirts, and black combat boots, and make our beds. We return to our places just as Sarge walks into the room, “Winters, either put your hair up or chop it off” I stand up straighter, “Sir, yes, sir” I say with as much force as I can and put it up for the moment. He smirks, “I want all of you to run three miles before Breakfast.” We all shout, “Sir, yes, sir!” As we all go out to do that, I put my hair up for the moment. We get back at 4:30 and stand in a line in front of Sarge, “Go eat, it will be awhile till you will get food again. You have 30 minutes.” We shout, “Sir, yes, sir!” We walk into the mess hall and grab food. I take 10 minutes to eat and go into the room where there are electric hair clippers and clip off most of my hair, making me look like a guy. I walk out and sit down with the boys, they all look at me, Dick is the first to recover and says, “Damn girl, your hotness level just skyrocketed.” I blush a deep red as the rest agree. Sarge comes in and we line up. He looks at me, “Way to show your dedication, soldier.” I gleam, “Thank you sir.” Sarge yells at us to go run more.

After this I don’t remember much after this. We all break multiple times during the next three days and by the end of the third day we all are starving, exhausted, and in desperate need of showers and sleep. We all stand in a line barely able to hold our own weights. Sarge and Chief come in looking at the four raggedy teams trying to stand up as straight as we can. Sarge starts talking, “Good job! You all made it through the first stage of training. You will have the next three days to recuperate. Then training will start again. I promise it will be easier. Go shower all of you. Dinner will be in an hour. You are dismissed.” We all stumble our way to the showers. After about 20 minutes, we all come out and have fresh uniforms waiting for us. We change and head to our room. Alex breaks the silence first, “Well damn, that sucked” his voice breaking a little. Dick is the next one to say something, “Yeah gees, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this shitty” we all murmur in agreement. We just sit staring at the floor for a while. I look into my bag and see a letter that I hadn’t noticed before. I pick it up and open it. It reads: 

_ Dearest Jessi, _

_ We are so proud of you for getting into the Spartan training program. We know that you will do your best to impress your superiors and be the best teammate you can be. You will want to quit at some points but we know you will push through and make us all proud. Your father would also be so proud of you. We love and miss you already. Write back and tell us everything! We will be awaiting your reply. _

_ Love, _

_ All of your friends back at the Mansion of Doom _

_ P.S. Danny says there is a package for you at the base post office. _

I look at the time after I finish reading it, “It’s time for dinner, let’s get some real food in us” The boys nod and we all walk into the mess hall, grab food, and sit down. Another ragged looking group next to us looks at us, the only girl in that group says to her group, “Hey look, it's the wonder recruits. I heard Sarge talking, these guys are the toughest group of Spartan wanna-bes to ever come through this training center. Let’s prove him wrong.” They all nod. My boys look at me, I shake my head, “Don’t worry. Just focus on recovering from the last few days. We can worry about them when we start our training.” They all nod and finish eating. 

After dinner, I go to the post office and head back to our bunk. I start unpacking what Danny sent me. It’s a bunch of junk food that I love, I smile and put it away in my drawer that I unpacked all my stuff into. I look up and all of the boys are asleep, I walk out and find a way to get on the roof and sit on the edge of the building looking up at the sky. I hear someone come onto to roof, “What are you doing here, Jessica?” I look up and see Chief looming over me and I scramble to stand up and salute him, “Oh… um… I couldn’t sleep and found my way up here, sir” He seems to smirk, “At ease, it’s after hours.” I nod and sit back down on the edge of the roof, he sits down next to me and looks up too, “Any reason you can’t sleep?” I shrug, “I keep hearing my step mother every time I close my eyes. I just didn’t care during phase one, I was so exhausted.” He looks at me with the sky reflected in his visor, but I can’t read him through his helmet. He leans back on his arms, one of them directly behind me. I lean up against him without thinking. He stiffened, then relaxed pulling me in a little closer to him. Still looking out I break the comfortable silence, “Can I ask you something?” His voice sounds relaxed for the first time since I met him, “What’s up?” I recount what happened to me earlier and ask, “What did she mean?” He takes a second to answer, “The Sargent and I pulled together a group of kids in need of getting out of bad situations that also just happened to have some of the best initial test scores we’ve seen. Your scores broke records.” He pauses, “When I saw you, your situation, and who your father was… I knew I had to do something.” He looks at me, “Then I met you. I knew you were... something else.” I blush, realizing what he just said. 

We just talk about random things till its time for breakfast. We walk into the mess hall together laughing. After we get food, we go your separate ways and I sit down with my team and they all look at me, “What?” I say yawning. Everyone shakes their head except Dick, “Dude, you came into the mess hall laughing with  THE Master Chief after not coming back to the bunk last night.” I shake my head sipping my coffee, “I couldn’t sleep so I went to the roof to look at the stars and Chief came up and we starting talking and lost track of time. It’s that simple.” I eat breakfast and walk into my bunk and start reading. The next thing I know, Flynn is waking me up for lunch, still on the same page of my book. I get up and walk into the mess hall still rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I get food and sit down with my team. Dev whispers in my ear, “You’re cute when you’re sleeping.” I feel myself turn bright red and all of the boys snicker at my blush. I shake my head and continue eating. We go outside to watch soldiers training. I feel someone come up behind me, I turn and see Chief, “Hey” I say smiling. He looks at me, “Hello. You all will be doing this in a few days.” They all murmur yes in some way. We all look out again to the fields and obstacles courses that broke us just yesterday. Flynn speaks up motioning out in front of us, “I refuse to let these terrorize me anymore.” Quieter, “I have nightmares about them.” Zack puts his arms around his shoulders, “Me too, buddy. Me too.” Chief places and hand on my shoulder and I blush at his touch, remembering last night. Chief leaves to go train another team and we all stay and watch the training until dinner.

After dinner, I take my journal and go to the roof. I found a place to lean up against a wall underneath a light and I write.

_ Dear diary, _

_ It’s been such a long few days since I wrote to you last. I’ve been broken down to the point that I didn’t know who I am anymore, well was. I got to meet the Master Chief, I’ll call him Chief from now on, and I get such a weird feeling in my stomach when I think about him now, not a bad weird, just like maybe I have a crush on him or something. But, I don’t really know, he’s so mysterious, I want to know more about him. Like what he looks like, he hasn’t taken his helmet off since we’ve got here and can only imagine. So anyways, last night we stayed up and talked all night, he told me stories about dad and talked about his training. We then talked about the base and the other recruits. Oh ya! My team! There’s seven of us, me and six boys: Alex, Flynn and Corey, they’re twins, Dick, Dev, and Zack. They are all so different yet the same. I enjoy all of them in different ways but I still don’t really know them very well yet. I feel that we will be a really solid team once we get through training. But right now we are all just recovering still... _

I hear his gruff voice, “Jessi?” I close my diary and poke my head around the corner, “Hey Chief. Over here.” He looks at me and motions to follow him, I do. He takes me to a fire pit near by where the bunks are, there was a fire blazing away. “I thought this would be nice.” He says almost shyly, “I even found the stuff for s’mores.” I smile, “Thanks. I love s’mores.” We sit down on the logs in front of the fire. We roast our marshmallows and talk. He hands me the stick holding his marshmallow and takes his helmet and gloves setting them down next to him. He smiles at me, taking his marshmallow back and I melt a little inside. He has short, brown hair with Ocean blue eyes, and a kind smile. We build our s’mores in silence and each take a bite. He looks at me and chuckles. I look at him weirdly, “What?” His eyes sparkling in the fire light, “You have marshmallow on your face.” He says, reaching over to wipe it off my cheek. I freeze, our eyes meeting, feeling a spark when his skin touches mine. He pauses before wiping my face with his thumb. Does he feel it too? I look down and take another bite out of my s’more. I can feel his eyes on me, “Are you ok?” He asks with genuine concern in his voice. I look at him and smile, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just enjoying the moment.” He finishes his s’more and leans back stretching his arms out on the log behind us. I eat the last few bites of mine and lean back too, he wraps his arm tightly around me, pulling me close. I lean my head on his shoulder and he leans his head on mine. After a while, he ponders, “I wonder, how many planets are actually out there? I mean beyond the space we control.” I smile, “Um.. I don’t know.” I answer sleepily. He laughs softly moving some hair behind my ear, “You sound tired. You should get some sleep.” I shift, yawning, “I’m fine.” He kisses my temple and I feel a light blush come across my cheeks, “You need sleep. I’ll walk you back.” I nod, not wanting to argue. I pick up my diary as he puts his gloves on and holds his helmet under one arm and puts his other arm around me. I snuggle up to him mostly for balance. We get back to my bunk and I hug him. He wraps his free arm around me tightly and kisses my forehead, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some sleep.” I nod, “I will, you too. Night.” He winks at me, puts his helmet on, and walks away. I walk into the bunk blushing and flop on my bed, “Hey guys.” They all look at me, Dev asks, “Where were you?” I look at him, “Writing in my journal.” Dick lifts an eyebrow, “For that long?” I sit up, “Yeah, It’s the only way I’ve ever had to get all of my feelings and thoughts out. And over the last few days I’ve had a lot happen. We all have.” They nod. Soon after we all fall asleep. 

The next two days are great, we talk, I show them the fire pit and we spend most of our time over there laughing and having fun during the day. At night, Chief and I meet on the roof and hang out, growing closer and I can’t speak for him, but I feel something that I have never felt, I think I’m falling in love with him. I write more and more, causing the boys to try and look over my shoulder to try and see what I’m writing. By the end of the third day, we are all restless, wanting to start doing something other than resting. We’re sitting around the empty fire pit, all talking and laughing and I’m writing. Unknown to myself, Zack sneaks up behind me and takes my diary. I shout, “Give that back, you asshole!” He laughs, running away, “Never!” I curse under my breath and chase after him. As I’m about to get it, Zack tosses it to Dick and he runs off. I turn and chase after him, he opens to a random page and starts reading, “‘ There’s this new guy who joined the team at the mansion today, I really don’t know how I feel about...” I thank everything holy that it’s from before I came to the base. I jump, tackling him to the ground. I grab my diary, closing the book, I stand up, dust myself off, and sit on one of the logs furthest away from the fire pit and continue writing. Dick gets up and brushes himself off, “I guess you shouldn’t mess with a girl’s journal.” He comes and sits down a row down from me, I just growl at him. Everyone laughing as I did that, Corey walks over to Dick and pats him on the shoulder, “Well, we now know how feisty she really is and it’s hot.” I roll my eyes feeling a light blush come to my cheeks. We spend the rest of the day just talking and goofing around. We head to the mess hall for dinner, get food, and sit down. The girl from the other day and her team sit down next to us, she whispers in my ear, “I saw you with the Master Chief last night,” I try to ignore her, “If it gets out, you both could get into serious trouble.” I look at her, “You have no idea what the relationship between Chief and myself is.” Flynn looks across the table at me weirdly. I shrug at him. He passes me a sheet of paper that said to meet him on the roof after dinner, I read the note and nod. Everyone finishes eating and Flynn and I sneak to the roof before they realize we were gone. “What’s up Flynn?” I ask. He looks over at me, “What was that about?” I laugh, “Nothing, she’s just crazy. She’s been bugging me since we got here.” He looks at me not believing me. I’m about to say something but Chief walks onto the roof. I smile when I see him and Flynn turns around to see who came onto the roof, “Oh, I’ll leave you two alone.” And he leaves. He takes his helmet off and looks at me, “Everything okay?” I feel my face heating up, “Yeah. That girl from the other day saw us last night apparently.” he nods, “She’s been trouble since she’s been here. Her team, red team, is one under Sarge but not led by him.” I nod as he continues, “She wanted to be on your team but her scores didn’t make the cut and she was pissed. She’s just trying to mess with your head, Jessi, don’t let her.” I walk over to him, “I won’t I promise.” He wraps his free arm around me, pulling me in and kisses my temple, “Good girl.” He murmurs lovingly into my ear, making my heart skip a beat. We sit and cuddle, looking at the stars and talking about anything we can think of. A little while later he looks at me, “Oh, um… I almost forgot, I’ve got a mission I have to go on starting tomorrow, I’ll be away for a couple of days.” I nod, “Oh ok,” I look down. He places a hand on my face and lifts my chin, “I will come back, I promise.” Then he does something I never thought he would do, he kisses me. It takes a second for my body to understand, I kiss back as soon as my body lets me. He shifts wrapping his other arm around me. We separate and we both blush a deep red and Chief rubs the back of his neck, “Sorry.” He gets up and turns, picks up his helmet, and starts to walk away, I get up and reach for him, “Wait… Don’t leave.” He stops, “I was impulsive Jessi. It was a mistake.” I grab his hand, making him look towards me, “Was it an impulse or a gut feeling? Because if it was a gut feeling you were right.” He pulls me in for another kiss, “Good,” he says smiling, “I’ll find you when I’m back and you better be waiting for me.” I laugh, “Don’t you worry, I’ll be counting down the seconds till you get back.” He smiles, kisses my forehead, and as he turns away he puts his helmet on. He looks over his shoulder at me, “Sleep well tonight, you start training tomorrow.” I blush and nod. He walks inside, I sigh after the door closes and take a second to recenter myself. I go back to my bunk and sit and write in my journal.

_ Dear Diary, _

_ I can’t believe it! Chief kissed me today! He said he had a mission he had to go on and to wait for him and he kissed me! That feeling I talked about, it’s love. I think I’m falling in love with him. I still barely know him but I also feel like I’ve known him for my entire life. It’s weird and I really don’t know how to feel about it, about him, about everything that’s happened so far. I’m just so overwhelmed with all of it, and on top of it we start our basic training tomorrow and Chief won’t be here for the next couple of days. I am a little worried about that bitch who keeps bothering me and my team. But anyways, I still keep thinking about Chief and the kiss. I’m happy about it, confused, there’s just so much to go over and figure out about my feelings and myself... _

After a little while, I feel my bed shake and look up to see Dick hanging over the edge, he inquires, “What happened tonight? Your writing pretty furiously there.” I just shake my head not wanting to talk about the kiss or what Chief said. He smirks, “Don’t want to talk about it?” He asks in a voice you would use with a baby or pet, “What happened? Something that’s none of your goddamn business.” I glare at him and slam my journal closed, “I don’t want to talk about. So, I’m not going to.” His eyes widen and he hops down and sits on the edge of my bed and the rest of the guys take notice, “Something did happen. What was it? Did he say something you weren’t expecting?” He pauses, thinking, “Did he kiss you?” I roll my eyes, and he smiles, “He did kiss you. Is he good?” I try to glare daggers into him as the rest boys giggle and shift, “I told you I don’t want to talk about it” He gets a sly look on his face, “I’ll take that as a yes.” He walks over to his bunk and hops up onto his bed. I shake my head and continue writing for a little bit then I fall asleep excited to start training tomorrow. 

Sarge comes in the next morning bright and early, “Wake up!” He shouts. All of us scamper around and stand next to our beds. He smiles, “You are the only group that does that. Keep it up!” We all say, “Thank you sir!” In unison. “Get dressed, make your beds, and jog a mile. After that you all can go eat breakfast.” He says. We all shout, “Sir, yes, sir!” And we get busy getting dressed and making our beds. We head out and run a mile, we get back and stand in front of Sarge, “Good work soldiers! Go eat.” We shout, “Sir, yes, sir.” And we walk into the mess hall. We’re laughing and talking as we get our food and sit down. The rest of the day is about strength building and fixing our broken confidence. 

After dinner, we all go for a jog around the track we were running around earlier. After that, we all head to the bunks and talk for awhile and I write. Corey looks at me, “No Chief tonight?” I look over at him, “He’s on a mission for the next couple days.” Dick laughs, “Aww. Your boyfriend isn’t here. That sucks.” I throw a pillow at him, “Shut the fuck up, Dick. He isn’t my boyfriend, I barely know him.” Dick throws my pillow back at me and Dev smiles slyly at me, “Are you sure about that? ‘Cause your blushing.” I groan, “Yes I’m sure. And who wouldn’t blush when they’re getting teased about liking someone?” Corey comes to my defense, “She’s got a point. I know Flynn turns into a tomato when I bring up any girl he’s been hanging out with. Even if they are just friends.” Flynn blushes and shouts at Corey and punches the bottom of the mattress above him causing Corey to laugh. Everyone laughs at the brothers going at each other. 

The next few months go by fast. Waking up early and running laps, eating breakfast, strengthening and toning exercises, eating lunch, taking an hour for a break, hand to hand combat and weapons training, eating dinner, then either Sarge would train us in kickboxing or we would just goof around, then I would sneak off with Chief, if he is at the base, or I would talk with my team in our bunk, then we would fall asleep and repeat it all over again. Bit by bit the training gets harder but our bodies get stronger with each coming day. My friends and my sisters from back home come and visit me. My sisters have all apologized about how they treated me and we rebuild our relationship. I pick up care packages from them and write back and forth with all of them. We also play team games like capture the flag and each team starts to have a structure. As we start to work as a team, there is some struggle for power between us. But, that dies down after a month or two. I get promoted to Blue team Squad Leader.

Then comes the day that Sarge tells us, at the end of the day, that we will be having the augmentation surgery the next morning. We walk into the mess hall buzzing with excitement. Chief is in front of me in the line for food, “What got you all so excited?” I grab some mustard out of the line of food, “We’re ready for augmentation. We’re doing it tomorrow morning at like 5 am.” He grabs silverware at the end of the line and picks up his tray, “Wow! That’s great. Then you guys will have to deal with me for training.” We all laugh and Corey says, “I bet your not that bad, Chief, and you’ll go easy on us I’m sure of it.” He looks at him, “Don’t be so sure about that, Corey.” Everyone laughs again. He sits with us and we all talk and laugh while eating. The Smith girl from the other team sits down next to me as we start eating, “You aren’t the only team going through augmentation tomorrow.” Chief takes his helmet off to eat, “Yes, all four teams are going through augmentation tomorrow, so don’t feel special either, Smith.” My team giggles at Chief’s ability to shut this girl down who had been giving us grief since we got here. Her jaw drops, “You’re only defending them because of her.” She points at me accusingly. He laughs, “Wow, just wow. You really do not understand what’s going on do you?” He shakes his head and takes a bite of the sandwich we were given for dinner. Flynn, who is sitting next to me, elbows me in the ribs smiling mischievously. I just shake my head and continue eating. 

After dinner, Chief, my team, and I all go out to the fire pit for celebrating finishing the second phase of training. We make s’mores and talk. We share about our civilian lives and how shitty they were. I talk about how I was treated like a servant in my house after my father died. And they all agreed that I had the worst life before we became Spartans. We ate s’mores and talked a lot of the evening. Chief looks around, “You all should get some sleep. You are the first group up in the morning.” We all nod, I yawn, “I’ll catch up with you boys in a minute.” They nod and head back to the bunk. After they leave, I hug him and he hugs back. His rough lips meet mine and I melt into him. He nips at my lip asking me to open my mouth and I oblige deepening the kiss as our tongues dance and play. We separate, our foreheads touching, he murmurs, “I am so proud of you, Jessi. You and your team has impressed both Sarge and I. After tomorrow morning, your step-mother will no longer be an issue.” I blush, playing with his hair, “I just can’t believe that we made it. It’s been a tough few months but it’s finally here.” He smiles, “Let’s get you to bed. You have a long day of getting used to your new body tomorrow.” I nod, yawning. We walk back talking. When we get to the door, he brushes his lips against mine, “I promise I will be next to you when you wake up from augmentation.” I nod, hugging him one last time before my life changes forever. The next morning we are all up really early, too excited to sleep. Sarge walks in to the room and sees us all up and chatting, “You guys must be excited.” We all nod, he smiles, “Great, your up, let’s go.” We all walk to the hospital wing and a team of doctors are waiting for us. The doctor in front speaks, “I’m Doctor Mallory Jensen, I will be the lead doctor for your augmentation process. My team and I are the best of the best when it comes to this surgery, handpicked by Dr. Halsey herself.” We all nod as she continues, “Each changing room has a hospital gown for each of you to wear. Please get them on and stand in front of the changing room door.” We do so and then get taken into the separate rooms for the surgeries. I get put under the aesthetic and I don’t remember anything after that. I wake up in a room with my team all waking up too. I look next to me to see if Chief kept his promise and he did, He smiles when he noticed my eyes open. “How do you all feel?” Doctor Jensen asks as she walks into the room. We all look at her, I speak first, “I feel different but I don’t know how or why.” She smiles, “That is perfectly normal. You will get the whole day to get used to your new strength, neuro-processing and physical speeds, weights, and heights. When you feel ready, get changed and get some breakfast.” We nod and Chief speaks up, “Your balance might be a little off because of the added weight. I suggest you do a little basic training today to get used to the difference.” Dick is the first to try to get off the bed, he doesn’t land right and falls but he jumps up trying to stabilize himself, embarrassed, “I meant to do that.” We all laugh and try ourselves, Chief lends me his arm to get my barring before I take my first step, “You guys get it so much easier then I did when I was first augmented. Not just is augmentation safer, we know so much more about healing from the surgery itself and it’s so much faster”. I start to walk and it feels effortless but a little wobbly, like a toddler learning how to walk. The boys all start to walk too and soon enough they are chasing each other around the room still a little uneasy about it but confident enough to not trip and fall. I laugh, “I don’t know about you all but I'm starving. I’m getting dressed and getting food.” They all agree. We get dressed and walk into the mess hall. We get our food and sit down. Smith and her team sits down next to us and glares at us, “You guys got to go first?!? That is so unfair!” We look at her and I’m about to answer back but there is a woman shrieking at the top of her lungs. The entire room is looking at one another. “Shit.” I race out of the room with my team on my tail. I see my mother yelling belligerently at Sarge and Chief, “I’m taking my daughter away from this god forsaken place!” Sarge tries to calm her, “Ma’am, please, it is too late for that now. She has already gone through the augmentation surgery.” She sees me and storms over, I stiffen and the boys shift nervously. “You” she fumed, “You’re coming with me!” I glare down at her, I am taller damn, as she tries to grab my arm. I step back into Zack, tensing and still unsteady on my feet from the surgery, “No.” I feel myself starting to steam in anger. “Excuse me?” She hisses. I feel a hand on my shoulder, “I said ‘no’” I feel her hand on my cheek but I don’t feel the all too familiar sting as she slaps me, part of the muscle and bone density increase? Before I know it, I feel my muscles tense more as I try to launch at her but Zack and Flynn hold me back and I struggle against them trying to get to the cause of all of my pain. She smirks, “That’s why she needs to come back with me.” Chief laughs harshly, everyone pauses, “That’s the reason why she needs stay here. You have made her life so miserable and since she’s been here she has blossomed into a smart and strong young woman who is more than capable to lead her team.” I stop struggling and straighten up, shocked as he continues talking, “When she first came here she was fairly quiet with a very passive personality, but now she demands both attention and respect from her team to the point where not a single one of them questions her command anymore. Because of her, this whole team is the most promising team of Spartans we have and we are not letting you just take a valuable asset away from us or her team for your twisted ego.” At this point, He is looming over my mother, his tone never changing from the even tone he started with. My mother looks absolutely terrified. I smile knowing that she won’t bother me for a while. As she walks away she says, “I will get you back, you little bitch.” Chief steps in front of me, stopping me from launching at her again as she walks away. Chief turns around, “Are you okay?” He says gently grazing my chin to check my cheek. I blush feeling a tingle where his fingers are, “Yeah, I’m fine, Chief.” I wave off his hand, “It used to happen all the time, I’m used to it.” Flynn shakes his head, “You shouldn’t be. That’s a horrible way to live.” I hang my head, “I know, coming here is my way out.” The next thing I know I’m being engulfed by my team in a group hug. I smile, knowing that I am no longer going through this fight alone. We all walk back into the mess hall and eat. 

The rest of the day is spend training, testing out our new abilities, and goofing around. I’m surprised at how much stronger we actually are, weights that I would normally have a little trouble with are way too light now and the movement around me seem to be slower but doing the calculations they are the same speed. I think it’s speed up in neuro processing. We were in the training room in the open area for learning hand to hand combat goofing around. Corey and Dick were in the makeshift ring throwing punches at each other and the rest of the boys were egging them on and I’m the ref. Chief walks in to the training room without his armor on and watches us for a second. “Do you guys want to get a taste for how fast and strong you really are now?” He asks. Everyone turns around and looks at him pausing, he smiles, “Who wants to go against me? I’ll go easy.” We all look around at each other, “Sure, I will” I say hesitantly. Corey and Dick find spots around the ring. Chief takes his spot across the ring from me, we both get into a defensive stance and he winks at me. I smirk and throw the first punch. He blocks it and I lose my balance a little, “Oh come on Squad Leader,” he purrs, almost playfully, “You can do better than that.” He throws a punch and I barely dodge it. I growl, recovering faster than I expected. I block a few punches as I get my head together, figuring out what the hell I’m doing. I throw a few punches, learning his pattern, then it clicks. I don’t know how but I just see his next move and am able to dodge it easily. He smiles, “Now you get it.” He starts to pick up the pace, I dance around him only being hit a few times and landing a few punches. After about 10 minutes of dancing around each other, he finally takes over the match and wins. I struggle in his grip as he pins me up against a wall with one of my wrists up against my back. I yelp in frustration and he smirks, “If you noticed, after a few minutes she was able to read me and know my next move. That few minutes will go away with practice and time, soon you each will be able to instantly read whomever you’re fighting against.” He lets go of me, “I won mostly because I have more training and experience then Jessi has but if two of you fought, the only way one of you would win is if one falters or outsmarts the other.” I rub my wrist glaring at him. The boys snicker as I walk out of the area. Dev grins evilly, “I think he was flirting with you.” I shake my head, “I doubt that.” He elbows me and I roll my eyes. We mess around with our new abilities a little more. 

After dinner, I go up to the roof and look out over the over the base. I hear the door open and hear someone walk towards me. I say, “Why did you do that?” I hear Chief clear his throat, “I was trying to get you and your team to see how your abilities work.” I turn to him, “Really? You embarrass me in front of my team to show how our abilities work?” He looks worried, “I would have done the same thing to any of the boys.” I turn away from him again crossing my arms. I feel his arms wrap tightly around me and he kisses the side of my head, “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.” He kisses my neck, I shiver at his kind touch and try to push him away. He knows I’m still mad at him and is trying to distract me from that. “Chief, I’m stmmph...” He interrupts me by kissing me. I melt instantly into him and he smiles into the kiss knowing he won this round. He opens his mouth deepening the kiss and gaining complete control over the situation. He picks me up, walks over to a wall, sets me down, and pushes me up against the wall. I smile and grab at his now unarmored junk. His eyes shoot open and he yelps surprised and I laugh. “What was that for?” His voice cracked. Giggling, I answer, “Just getting you back while I can.” He looks at me unamused. I look down then look back up to him giggling again, “Obviously you didn’t mind too much.” I tease. His face turns bright red. I use the wall to push off and knock Chief off his feet and we fall on the ground laughing. He looks at me, “I forgot you can do that now.” He says laughing, I smile widely at him. He looks past me and into the sky, “Wow, you should look up.” I do and my jaw drops, “You weren’t kidding.” I roll off and lay down next to him and we look up at the stars and talk for awhile. I yawn and Chief laughs, “You should get some sleep you’ve had a long day and starting tomorrow the training will ramp up a lot” I nod, realizing how tired I am. He gets up and helps me up off the ground. Before we head back inside, He pulls me into a deep kiss, throwing me off guard. After I regain my composure, we walk back to my bunk. I hug him and walk into my bunk. All of the boys are asleep but didn’t turn off the light, so I turn off the light and go to sleep myself. 

We wake up to Chief yelling at us. We all scramble to get up standing as straight up as we can in front of our beds, “Huh, Sarge was right. You are the only team that does that.” He says, “10 minutes to get dressed and make your beds. Meet me outside ready to train.” We shout in unison, “Sir, yes, sir!” And we get busy getting dressed and making our beds. We race out and line up in front of Chief. The rest of the teams come out and line up, Chief walks along the line, “From now on, everything you do affects your entire team. So if any of you act out of line or don’t follow orders, your team will also be punished. Understand?” We all shout, “Sir, yes, sir.” He looks at us, “Good. Now, the way that my training works is that the last team that finishes will give me 100 pushups. Now all of you go run 4 miles before breakfast.” We all start running, Smith runs off ahead of us, leaving her team behind. My team shakes our heads and start running around the track. We finish first and Dev states, “How am I not out of breath?” I look at him, “You're not a fat ass anymore.” The rest of the guys laugh and Dev tries to intimidate me, “I was never a fat ass. You...” I smirk cracking my knuckles, “You finish that sentence and I will knee you in the balls.” He glares at me backing off. We line up as the last team finishes running and Chief walks over. He gets right to the point, “Red team, give me 100 pushups.” Smith looks shocked, “Wait? I finished first.” Chief walks over to her and towers over her, “Yes, you did. Leaving your team behind and they came in last. As I said, if your team comes in last then so do you. Give me 100 pushups, Smith! NOW! The rest of you can go in and get some breakfast.” The Red team starts their pushups and the rest of us head in and grab our food. The rest of the day goes like that, my team, and the yellow and green teams follow orders and the red team gives Chief grief the entire time. 

The rest of the day continues on like that. We still are a little off balance but that all slowly goes away and everything just becomes natural. I try to get used to being the leader, and we start getting used to working more as a team. Lunch comes and goes and we start tackling the harder obstacle courses with ease, getting used to the new strength from the surgery. Then we come in famished for dinner.

After dinner, I’m running around the base trying to get some energy out before I retire for the night. I turn a corner and see Smith and her team, I slow to a stop knowing something is not right here, “May I help you?” I ask cautiously, starting to backup but bump into one of them. She smirks and I get shoved up against the wall, “Not me in particular but you can help these boys.” The six boys gather around me and knock me out. I wake up to Chief’s hand on my cheek and sounding worried, “Jessi, come on wake up.” I open my eyes. I mumble, “What happened?” Chief hugs me, “The red team was around you… violating you.” I feel tears well up in my eyes, “What!?” I break down and Chief picks me up and carries me back toward the base, “I’m taking you to Doctor Jensen to get checked out and then to Sarge so you can tell him what happened.” I nod grabbing on to him. He holds me tightly as we walk me into the building. “Doc! She’s been raped!” Chief yells. Doc Jensen races into the room, “Put her down, I’ll take care of her.” She does a rape kit and checks me over, She turns to a very worried Chief, “Luckily there is no concussion or serious damage to any part of her. Just some scrapes and bruises. She will be ok.” He nods, relieved. He walks over to where I’m sitting and sits down next to me, “Are you ok?” I nod weakly, “I will be.” We get up and find Sarge, Chief and I tell him what happened. He puts his hand on my shoulder, “They will be punished for this, Winters, I can assure you that.” I nod, scooting into Chief a little and he wraps his arm around my shoulders, “You should go hang out with your team. They will be of great help.” He says, taking off his helmet. We walk to my bunk, before I walk in I hug him, “Thank you.” He kisses my forehead, “Any time. If they bother you, come to me and I will deal with them, okay?” I nod. He closes the space between us and kisses me lightly. I walk into the bunk and all of the guys looked shock. Flynn is the first one to move, “What happened?” I break down into his shoulder. He hugs me tightly and guides me to his bed, we sit down. After I calm down a bit, I tell everyone what happened and how Chief came to my rescue. “God, I am so sorry.” Flynn says tightening his grip on my shoulders. I hear Alex growl and Dev say, “That was so uncool! You did the right thing by telling Sarge and us. They won’t have the chance to do that again, ever.” Dick sits down on the other side of me and hugs me, “We’ll make sure that you aren’t alone.” I hug him back, “Thank you. It means a lot to me.” We talk for awhile and I fall asleep curled up against Flynn. 

Chief comes in and wakes us up. We get up, get dressed and go run. We finish and line up, the reds finishes last again and they have to do push ups again. We head into the mess hall and grab breakfast. Flynn and Alex flank me to make sure the red team doesn’t try anything. We get our food and sit down, red team tries to sit down next to us and Chief comes over, “No.” he growls, “Go sit somewhere else, there are plenty of other spots.” They all roll their eyes and switch tables. Alex snickers, “Someone is a little overprotective.” Chief sets his food down, “What they did was wrong and uncalled for.” He takes his helmet off and sits down with us, “So yes, I am. They know enough about your past, Jessi, and decided it would be a good idea to exploit your weaknesses to try to knock you all off your game.” Zack looks confused, “Why would that affect all of us?” I answer before Chief gets a chance too, “You follow me. Remember when we were playing capture the flag with them the first time? I’m also the Squad leader on this team.” They all nod, I continue, “I took charge and we won round after round. And since then you have followed my lead and direction.” Sarge walks up and sits next to Chief with food, “Correct, well done Winters. That’s why when you get your suits in a few days, you all will also become a real team with Winters leading you, as Petty Officer 3rd class.” I look at him, “Really?” Chief smiles, “Sarge and I were talking and with everything that happened and how well you handled it we thought it would be a good idea to turn you all into a team preparing for missions.” We all buzz excitedly. “And...” Sarge pauses, “Have you, Winters, start training with Chief for partner missions.” I beam, “You mean it?” He nods, “You all are ready for it.” Dick asks, “When do we get our suits?” Chief says, his mouth full, “The end of the week.” He looks at me, “You guys are first up too.” We all high five and finish breakfast talking about how we think the suits will look and feel. 

The rest of the day and week go by fast. My team and I training harder then ever in anticipation, playing against the other teams, not just our group, in games, as well as the usual training. I spend my days training with my team and nights training with Chief, getting used to how he works and the different guns I’ll be using and in a training suit that is similar to the one I will be using. The night before we get our suits, Chief and I sneak off for some time alone, “I knew you’re good, just not that good.” I say laughing. He smiles, “Thanks,” he says pulling me into a passionate kiss. We pull apart but stay with our foreheads touching, “It feel like a century ago since we’ve had some time alone.” I nod, “Yeah. I agree.” I cup his face in my hands and he wraps his arms tightly around my waist. We close the gap between us and kiss again. “Oh and Sarge forgot to tell you that you only have one day to get used to your suit before we have to go on a mission.” He says with a cheeky grin. I stand back a second, processing what he just said, “What? Does he think I’m ready? Do you think I’m ready?” He laughs, “Yes, we’ve talked about it and you and I are ready for a fairly easy mission. But you and your team still needs a little work. It won’t be long though you are really starting to work as a team now. You’ll be doing missions with them in no time.” I hum in thought, “I’m guessing that means I’ll have to choose a second in command then?” He nods. I yawn, He laughs, pulling me in, “You’ve had a long day and will have a longer one tomorrow. Let’s get you back so you can sleep.” I nod, “That’s a good idea. Oh, I have an idea to give the red team a taste of their own medicine but I will need their files and my team’s files to look through.” He looks at me confused, “Ok…? I’ll talk to Sarge tonight and try to get their files to you tomorrow. May I ask why?” I look at him, “Not yet.” I smirk, walking away. He scoops me up in his arms, kissing me deeply. He puts me down and we walk back to the base. I walk into my bunk walking on air still from the few minutes I got with Chief. We talk for awhile and I write for a bit then we go to sleep, knowing about the busy day ahead. 

I wake up to Zack shaking me, “Umm.. what’s up Zack?” I shift making room on my bed, he sits down, “I can’t sleep. I’m too excited about the suits.” I smile, sitting up and glancing at my watch, 4 am, “Me too Z, these suits are my final ticket out of my horrible life as a civilian. And I can finally honor my father’s dying wish.” He looks at me, “Really? He wanted you to become a Spartan?” I nod, “He’s buried in the cemetery here. He was a Spartan and died in battle. So I feel like becoming a Spartan will bring me closer to him.” He nods, “Wow, I never knew that.” I nod, “Most people don’t. I like to keep it under wraps” He nods, we continue to talk until Chief comes in and wakes us up. Instead of us running, we get dressed and head to the lab. A doctor is waiting for us but it isn’t Doc Jen. I immediately snap into a salute and my team follows, “Congratulations blue team! I’ve heard you are the most promising team we’ve got. I’m truly not surprised.” Doctor Halsey herself stands in front of us. She presses a button and our suits come up on a platform, all of our mouths drop, she smiles, “Your suits. You can go and check them out. And because you have been so great in training you also get to personalise your suits today as well if you’d like.” We each find our suits, she continues, “Each suit is specified to each of your strengths. Which of you want to go first?” I examine my suit and it’s a replica of Chief’s suit, I hesitantly speak up, “I will.” The boys look at me. Doctor Halsey’s face brightens, “Great! Let’s go.” She motions to her team and they prep the suit. Doctor Halsey gets me in the suit and turns it on. I blink getting used to the glass in front of me, realizing that I’m on a hard metal table tilted up. After a moment of the suit fitting itself to my body, Doctor Halsey speaks, “Don’t try moving. Just think about what you want to do. The suit will do what you think.” I think about lifting my arm in front of my face and the suit reacts. She asks, “How does it feel?” I tell the suit to lift my other arm, “It feels like it’s reading my mind, it’s weird. But it also feels natural.” She smiles, “All of that is normal. You will get used to being in the suit. Try taking your first step.” I nod, I take a deep breath and I start thinking about standing up. It feels fluid and smooth, the suit jumps off the table, landing on the ground. I straighten, getting my bearings, and the boys gather around me asking a million questions. I answer, “Get suited up. Let’s show those reds who’s the best.” They soon get suited up and go through the same tests I did. I stand next to Chief, he looks at me, “How do you like the suit?” I smile, “I feel safe for the first time since the incident.” I look down, he looks out at my team with the suits, “I get it. The suit becomes a safety blanket of sorts, especially when you start working out in the field. It’s about time for breakfast, bring your team in. Oh here are those files you wanted.” He hands me the stack of files, Doctor Halsey walks up next to Chief, we both salute. She smiles, “Your team is so excited about the suits.” I laugh, “Yeah, we’ve, both as a team and as individuals, have been through a lot. This is definitely one of the best things that have happened to us and we finally get a chance to prove to Sergeant Emery and Chief that we are worthy of these suits and this opportunity. And for me personally, it’s my chance to honor my father.” She nods, “Yes, you’re Chief Winters’ daughter. I should have guessed, strong and demanding of your team yet soft spoken and gentle when you need to be. And, I think most importantly, able to show vulnerability.” I smile, though I’m sure she can’t see it through my visor, “Sounds like my dad.” I look back at my team testing out the suits’ abilities. “If you don’t mind ma’am.” I turn to my team, “Let’s go! Breakfast time.” I salute to both Chief and the Doctor as my team comes in and we walk together into the mess hall, the gasps are audible as they see us. We take our helmets off and get in line for food. We finish going through the line and I’m about to sit down but Smith comes up to me. My team tenses up, I turn around squaring my shoulders, “May I help you?” I almost growl. She tries to become taller then me, and fails, “Where did you get that suit?” I laugh, motioning for my team to sit down, “Doctor Halsey gave us them, we’re starting real mission training today.” I turn to my team, “That reminds me, Chief needs me with him for a mission tomorrow, Flynn, I’m putting you in charge while I’m gone.” He nods, I turn back to Smith, “So there’s your answer. Now, we’ve got a lot of training to do, so if you wouldn’t mind we have to eat.” I sit down and look through the files as she huffs off. Flynn looks over my shoulder, “What are those?” Without looking up, I answer, “Red team files. When I get back in a few days, we will be going up against them in a series of games and puzzles and I want to know as much about them as I can so we can crush them completely.” I flip through the files learning everything about my boys and the red team. After breakfast, Chief and I go up against my team with Flynn leading. Flynn almost leads the team to victory but Chief and me but we come around and win. The boys looked shocked as we unload our weapons, “How the fuck did you two win?” Zack asks, completely baffled. We both laugh, Chief pats my shoulder and walks out of the room, “We used your weaknesses against you. I was able to read each of your files to help me understand each of your strengths and weaknesses, so I can use your strengths to our advantage and work with and around the group’s weaknesses. But today, You aren’t used to working without me and Chief and I were able to exploit that.” I finish unloading and cleaning the guns I used, “You’ll be able to work on that while I’m out on the mission the next few days.” I take off my helmet and walk out of the room, running a hand through my hair. Flynn catches up to me, “Is there anything I can do better to lead the team?” I turn to him, “I’m glad you asked. A couple yes, the main ones that I noticed is that you didn’t delegate much and you gave broad, non-specific orders.” I smile, “Delegating allows more to get done in less time and can help keep tabs on the other team. Broad orders are great for the whole team but with specific people, giving more specific orders will help you keep more organized. That’s all that I can think of now, but you did a great job today. You are definitely the right choice for my second in command.” He beams, “Thank you, I will keep both of those things in mind next time.” We walk into the base talking and Smith, whose first name I learned was Heather, comes up to us in her suit, “You're not the only one who has a suit now.” Flynn responds before I can, “Good for you? No one really cares. We all have suits” I try and fail to hold back laughter, I end up snorting, and high five him. She grunts at us and storms off. Flynn breaks down laughing too. We walk into the lab to take off our suits, Doc Jen comes in to help, “Chief says he wants you to meet him outside with your suit. For training I think.” I nod and turn to Flynn, “I’ll probably see you at lunch. See you later.” He waves bye as I walk out to where Chief wants to meet. I pause, just looking at him, not wanting to disturb him. He turns his head towards me, “You ask to meet me here?” I ask hesitantly. He nods, “I figured we should train a little with harder opponents then your team.” As he says that a team of Spartans, an older green team it looks like, walks up. The person who I’m guessing is the leader speaks, “Huh. So this is Squad Leader Winters. I’m not impressed.” He scans me up and down, my hair still a little messy from the last training, “ Are you ready to start, Chief?” Chief laughs, “Don’t underestimate your opponent Holland, there’s more to her then it first appears and she’s a Petty Officer 3rd class after all. And Yes we are ready.” He turns to me, “The best team of their boot camp graduation group. Team Sigma has been a model team since and this is a reward for a job well done. Don’t be intimidated. You are much better than Petty Officer Holland, as both a leader and individually. They will be a challenge but I have zero doubts that we can win. Just pay attention and communicate with me and Cortana. There will be guns and ammo out there, but not near where we’re starting. Grab two guns you feel comfortable with.” I nod, looking out at the terrain of the training area and grab an assault rifle and a sniper and check and load them with training bullets. Chief grabs an assault rifle and a pistol, “Interesting choice. Why the sniper?” I smile, just figuring that this is my test, I snap my helmet into place, “Where we are doing the training has great high points that will be able to keep me pretty well hidden. For terrain like that, the sniper is a great bet.” I can tell he’s smiling, “Good logic.” He looks at me through his visor, “You ready to show Team Sigma what you're made of?” I nod and we head off into the training area. The countdown gets to one and Chief and I head off into different directions, I immediately get to higher ground and start hunting down the other team with my sniper. Chief and I are talking, noting movement, and taking down every person we see. There are two left, Holland and someone named Jackson. They are hiding and I can’t snipe them, I switch guns and say over the comm, “There is no other way to do it, Chief. We have to go head on with them.” Chief’s calm voice answers, “Are you sure? Have you tried every angle?” I feel myself starting to flip out a little, “Yes to both of those questions.” Cortana says, “Your heart rate is elevated, Jessi...” Chief’s voice cuts her off, “Calm down, Jess. Everything is okay. Even if this was a real situation and not training, we both will be just fine. This is what we train for. Take a deep breath, calm down. Who do you want to take on?” I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves, “Ok, and Holland. I’m not letting him scare me.” He chuckles, “Good girl.” He purrs, “We will have to be quick. They both are on high alert.” I drop down, “Ok. Let’s do this.” We move in unison, dodging bullets, Chief takes down Jackson in seconds, Holland go back and forth for a few minutes. My mind races trying to think of how to beat him, Chief’s voice comes over the comm, “He only has one gun with bullets. And his biggest weakness is hand to hand combat.” It clicks, I put my assault rifle away, I glance at the area. It’s long and narrow with Holland about half way down and getting closer. I need to knock his gun away and beat him in hand to hand. I take a deep breath before I run out of my hiding spot and towards him, I kick his gun out of his hand knocking it back a ways. He looks at me through his visor and growls, I smirk and throw the first punch. I learn his pattern and quickly nail him to the ground and shoot his helmet with a training bullet. “God damn it!” He shouts in frustration and hits the ground. Chief comes out from around the corner and I hear my team cheering for me somewhere behind me. “Good job, Jessi. I knew you could do it.” He throws an arm around my shoulders and pulls me in. I know I’m blushing and I’m glad I have my helmet on. Holland walks up to me, “You won fair and square. I’m impressed, Winters.” He sticks his hand out and I shake it, “You can sit with us any time. And if your team is anything like you then so can they. I think I do want a one on one rematch because that was some crazy shit.” I laugh, “Thanks. You’re not so shabby yourself. You had me shaking in my suit scared for a second there.” He laughs and we walk back to the entrance, “Let me guess, Chief talked you down?” I nod, “I figured. It’s about lunch time. Wanna eat with us today?” I smile, “If my team can join.” He opens the door for me, “Sure, we could use a team like yours as an ally.” As I walk out I get tackled by my team, I yelp in surprise. When they let go, I take my helmet off laughing, “Thanks guys. And we’ve got other people to sit with for lunch today.” They look confused and I motion to Holland and his team, “Team Sigma.” Their mouths drop, Dick regains composure first, “An actual Spartan team?” I giggle at their awe, “Yep. They’re a good team, just not that good.” Holland laughs and puts a hand on my shoulder, “You and Chief are just that good of a pair.” Both teams walk into the mess hall together, talking. Heather comes up to Holland, “Hi Kelly.” She flirts. Holland just ignores her as we keep talking. We walk past her deep in conversation, she pouts and goes back to her team. I laugh, “What was that about?” He shakes his head, “I used to babysit her and now that she knows I’m on Sigma she’s been trying to flirt with me.” I look at him, “I’m sorry. She’s been causing my team trouble too.” He takes off his helmet, “Yeah, I heard about that. I’m sorry her team did that.” I get a good chance to look at him, he’s handsome, brown hair and eyes, sharp jawline and a dazzling smile. We grab food and sit down, we talk about a lot of things, Chief, leading teams, and the training we both went through. After lunch, I walk into the lab and start painting my suit. I pick navy blue for the main color, a bright orange for the highlights, and I keep the same visor color. I walk out of the lab and run into Holland. He suggests that we get out of our suits and go into the training room to train together. We do weight training for a bit, then punch the punching bag. After a while, “Chief and I got a mission tomorrow. I’m kinda nervous about it. Any tips?” He laughs, “Don’t freeze up like you did, is my biggest one for you. Go on instinct out there. You’ll probably be right. You’ve got a good head on those shoulders. And Chief will be there to work with you and help you out there.” I nod, blushing a little, “Thanks and ok.” He looks at me curiously, “Is there something going on between you and Chief? I won’t tell if there is.” I look around, “Wanna go for a run? I’ll tell you while we’re out there.” He nods and we head out to the track, “Yes” I admit, “There is… It just kind of happened the night before he went on a mission.” He smirks, “He kissed you? Man, I kept telling him that he would have it in him when it was the right girl. And you seem like the right girl for him. You seem like the right girl for any of your team too. They all are great guys. The girls on my team were gushing over Zack I noticed.” I laugh, “Yeah they were. Z is a great guy.” I pause, “All of them are. And they all came from a similar shit situation like I did.” I say walking into the base. Before he answers, I hear the familiar shriek of my step-mother and I groan. Holland follows me to where the wretched sound is coming from, “Might need to hold me back.” I turn to my step-mother, “As they’ve said many times before, I’m not going back. I can’t go back” Chief and Sarge look at me, I can feel myself seething with anger, my mother comes over to me, “Yes you are. This is the same place your father was sent before he got himself killed.” I sigh, “Yes but he died with honor and purpose. And a different kind of family” My team comes over to see what the deal is. I smile at them, “And I have a family here. One with a very broken past, but a real family nonetheless. One that I refuse to leave because they are all I’ve had since dad died.” I feel a tear slip down my cheek, “I refuse to let my only purpose to be your punching bag, I’m just a reminder of what you lost. So you beat me up and keep me weak. You can’t stand the fact that since I’ve been here, I finally found my place. Right where dad wanted me to be. His dying wish was for me to be a Spartan. And I joined for him and continued for these boys.” I point to my team and Chief, I feel the fire of my passionate anger start to stir again, “They are the only ones who matter to me now.” I’m yelling at her, not realizing that I’m crying. I bury my face in my hands and I feel arms wrap around me, I lean in to whoever they belong too, I feel the cloth and realize it’s Sarge, He whispers in my ear as he holds me tightly, “I’m so proud of you. And so is your father.” I just wrap my arms around him, hoping he can hold me together. I let go of him and straighten myself and wiping my face, “I refuse to let you take the only people in this universe who care about me away. Please do not come back. I don’t ever want to see you again.” She looks shocked, “But, but...” Chief moves in front of me protectively, “You heard her, leave and never come back.” He growls. She huffs away saying, “You will regret this you little bitch!” She storms out of the base. I sigh, relieved, Chief turns around and pulls me into a tight hug, “You are so brave, Jessi.” I smile hugging him back tightly. Corey’s stomach rumbles loudly and everyone looks at him, “What? All of this badassery has made me hungry.” He says innocently. We all laugh and head into the mess hall for dinner. After dinner, Chief steals me away to his room, “What on Earth are we doing here?” I ask, He chuckles walking into his bathroom to take off his armor, “I thought you might like to stay with me tonight. Maybe watch a movie?” I look at him, “I’d love that.” We sit down on his couch and choose a movie, Letters to Juliet, an ancient movie from the 21 century. He makes popcorn and we watch the movie. At the end, he kisses me, but it’s different then the other times, a little more desperate than usual. I pull back, “Are you Ok?” He looks confused, “Yeah, why?” I kiss his nose, “I don’t know, you’re just kissing me differently tonight.” He looks down, “Um… I was wondering if you wanted to...” I giggle at his sudden shyness, “Yes I would love too. Is this your first time?” He shakes his head, blushing a little, “Huh? I was not expecting that to be your answer.” He glares at me growling and almost pounces on me, kissing me roughly. I smile into his kiss, pulling off his shirt, he is so fit and scars paint his skin. He takes that as a que and picks me up and puts me on his bed, never letting our lips leave each other. He takes my shirt off, “You used to cut?” I nod a little embarrassed, “Yeah. It would help with the emotional pain. I haven’t had the urge to cut since I’ve been here though.” He smiles, kissing me and fiddling with my bra. He gets it off and I start undoing his belt and pants. He kisses down my neck, I moan a little, and he starts nibbling on my shoulder. We separate enough to get both of our pants and underwear off. He starts grinding against me, his hands exploring every part of my body. I moan, a little out of breath, out of pleasure, “You won’t hurt me.” I promise. He looks down and enters me, I moan, finally getting what I’ve wanted for so long. He pauses, “Are you ok?” He ask genuinely worried. I laugh, “I’m more then ok. You feel great...” Before I can finish my thought he slowly starts moving inside of me. He kisses me, starting to grind faster. After a while, it felt like an eternity but I know it wasn’t, he collapses next to me exhausted and sweaty. I laugh, “And here I thought all you were was a soldier.” I laugh, he looks at me out of breath, “And what does that mean?” I look at him, “That was fucking amazing! Easily the best sex ever.” He blushes, “You mean it?” He asks shyly. I nod, laughing, I curl up next to him, “As I said, you can’t hurt me, I’ve been through the ringer.” He chuckles wrapping his arm around me. Soon be both fall asleep. The next morning I wake up to the shower turning on. I look at the clock, we’ve still got a few hours before we have to get ready. I just lay back remembering last night, skin on skin, the passion, his gentleness turned lust. I blush just thinking about it. I sit up rubbing my eyes. I get up and find my clothes, thrown everywhere in the heat of the moment. I walk into the bathroom after I hear the shower turn off, “Morning, love.” I say as I enter, “Mind if I borrow your shower?” I blush a little actually noticing his half naked figure, “No, go ahead.” He says drying his hair with a towel. I hop in the and blast the hot water, rejuvenating me from last night’s sleep, bring my body back from the world between life and death, well that’s how I think of sleep. I get out and dry off. I get dressed and walk out to see Chief sitting down, putting his suit on. I wrap my arms around his neck and nibble his ear, “Last night was amazing.” He smiles, “I thought so too. But we do have a job to do today.” I come around and sit next to him on the couch with my shoes, “All about the mission with you, isn’t it?” He smiles, snapping his breastplate in place, “If there is a mission then yes, if not then no.”I smirk, teasing him, “Then it’s all about the training.” He chuckles, “Last night wasn’t, well that’s if I recall it correctly.” He teased back, making me blush. I mumble, “Ya, I guess so.” He finishes his armor and pushes me on my back and kisses me. He pulls away, “Go get you suit on and meet me in the mess hall.” I nod and head to the lab to get my suit. Doc Jen smiles when she sees me, “Jessi! Your up early.” I return the smile, “Yeah, Chief and I have a mission we’re going on today. Leaving after breakfast.” She nods and gets my armor, I change into my under armor and start getting my leg and boot armor in place. She looks at me, “How are Chief and you doing?” Without looking at her, I answer, “Great. Training with him has been really fun. I feel really ready for this mission.” She hums amused, “That’s wonderful. Are you worried about your team while your gone?” I laugh a little, “I mean, yeah. As any good leader should be, but Flynn is in charge so I’m not too worried. Mostly just about the trouble those boys can get into.” She laughs as I snap my breast plate in place. She hands me my arm and shoulder armor and I snap them into place. I slip my gloves on and Doc Jen hands me my helmet, “Good luck on the mission. Send Chief my best regards.” I smile taking my helmet from her, “Thanks and will do. See you in a few days, Doc.” She waves at me as I walk out and to the mess hall. I grab my food and scan the room for my green armored partner. I find him and sit down next to him and start eating, “Doc Jen says Hi and good luck on the mission.” He smiles taking a bite of food. We finish eating and head to the hanger, We both snap our helmets into place as we walk onto the hanger. Cortana’s cheiry voice pops into my ear, “Welcome to your first mission Jessi.” I smile, “Thanks Cortana. Fill us in on the details.” She says, “Of course! It’s a Search and Rescue.” And starts talking about the mission and what we will be doing. As she gives us the details, we hop into the Pelican and take off to our destination. We land and get our guns and ammo. We walk out, “I’m sorry for these idiots in advanced. I’ve done plenty of missions with them and their leader is completely and utterly incompetent.” He says into the radio, I giggle. The, whom I presume, is the leader of this group comes up to us, “Well isn’t this dandy? A little cupcake came with.” I growl at him ready to choke him, Chief signals me to back down and speaks up, “She is one of our best soldiers and my partner, Commander.  Petty Officer Winters deserves all of the same respect that I do. She could probably do this mission on her own if she really wanted to.” He almost growls, “She is more than capable to hold her own out there.” He glares at me, “We shall see.” He walks away, Chief turns to me, “As I said.” I laugh. We follow him and I look around the area we’re in, Soldiers everywhere, some injured, some not, all of them relieved to see us. Chief talks directly into the radio, “The soldiers here are actually good soldiers, they just don’t have leadership. We, as Spartans, give them hope that they will be able to go home at the end of the day. I’ll be letting you take charge on this one. To get the experience and because I know you can do it.” I nod, deep in thought. Mostly about getting back to my team and how the hell am I going to get everyone home from this mission. The commander introduces us to his second in command, a small but tough looking woman named Jenna. She says, “Chief, Petty Officer, Welcome. You are a sight for sore eyes for all of us.” She smiles at me, “It’s also nice to have another girl around.” We head off and they talk about the area and what our mission a little more. We eat with the soldiers and then get ready for this mission. Chief and I are checking our weapons, he whispers in my ear, “Those are real bullets you know, be careful.” I look at him, “You know better than anyone how well I handle a gun.” Cortana speaks, “Chief your blushing, I don’t understand.” I laugh, “I will explain it to you later.” Chief growls at me, “You will pay for that.” I look at him, “I’ll be looking forward to it.” We head to where the search and rescue will be executed. Chief turns to the troops, “Petty Officer Winters will be taking the lead on this one. Listen to her and follow her every order.” I nod at Chief, “First of all, we will need a few people to stay behind to make sure that more Covenant don’t get into the building without our knowledge. Commander, you and you three stay out here.” He starts to argue and Chief silences him, “The rest of you will come in with Chief and myself to get these people out safely.” They all nod. We get in, find the people, take out the Covenant guarding them, and get them out. We come out with everyone in one piece. Chief’s voice comes over the radio, “Great job! I knew you could do it.” I blush, “Thanks.” We head to the Pelican and fly back. We pick up another team on the way and get back about half way through the next day. I ask Sarge where my team is. “Training. You should go check on them.” I walk to the training area observation deck and turn my radio on to their frequency, they aren’t doing well against the Red Team. I look out, “Flynn? Is everything ok?” They all shout in happiness and relief when they hear my voice, Flynn answers, “No! Everything is not ok! They are handing us our asses.” I laugh, “Ok, ok. Calm down. Think. Look around. What can you use?” Flynn answers, “Um… there is some high ground and Alex has a sniper. Alex, go up and try to knock a few people out.” Alex starts moving, “Yes sir.” I smile, “Good. What else?” He thinks for a second, “Corey has a shotgun and Zack has a burst rifle. Corey, Z, move up and start shooting” both of the boys answer, “Yes sir.” I compliment, “Good job. How many are left?” Flynn looks out from his spot, “Three… Dick, Dev. We need to sneak around the back and nail them from behind. Follow me.” They both say, “Yes sir.” And execute a perfect ambush. I beam at how well they did. I take my helmet off as they come in from the training grounds. They all hug me, “Great job boys. I’m glad I was here to see that.” I complement. Heather storms up to me, “You told them how to win!” I laugh in her face, “That was all Flynn. All I was doing was asking him the kinds of questions I ask myself when I’m in a sticky situation like that. He did the rest. I just came back from a mission with Chief. I don’t have the energy to do that.” She scoffs and storms off. “How was the mission?” Flynn asks. I answer, “I dealt with an idiotic leader with an amazing team of soldiers. But it was good to get some real action. I felt like all of this training is finally paying off.” Dick wipes my cheek, “You have a cut on your cheek.” I touch my cheek and look at my hand, “Oh yeah. I should probably see Doc Jen about it.” I say nonchalantly. I walk off and Flynn follows me, “Those questions, where did they come from?” I look at my second in command, “Those are the questions I think about when I’m in any situation, especially sticky ones. They help me take a deep breath and think about what is going on around me. They help me think about where I am, who I’m with, and who has what.” He nods thinking, we walk into the infirmary, “Hi Doc! I need a little medical attention. Apparently, I scratched my face.” She comes over to me, “Goodness, you and Chief both.” She cleans and dresses the scratch on my face, I wince at the slight pain. Sarge comes in, just as I put my helmet back on, “You have your first team mission. Leaving tomorrow as soon as you get suited up. You’ll get to eat on the plane.” Flynn and I both say, “Yes sir.” He walks out, “Ugh. I don’t get a break. That sucks.” Chief walks in smiling with a scratch across his nose, “Welcome to the life of a Spartan.” I turn around, “You too?” He laughs, “Unfortunately yes. More idiots too.” I groan. I hear Cortana come over the comm, “You too Jessi, same Commander from your last mission.” I facepalm, “God damn it! All right, fine. I swear if he calls me a cupcake again, I will punch him in the balls.” Chief and Flynn laugh, “What happened on the mission?” Flynn asks. I look at Chief, who is getting checked out by Doc Jen, “The commander wasn’t a huge fan of a girl telling him that he needed to stay behind with a small group.” Chief laughs, “Yeah, that Commander is not a huge fan of women in the army. Especially strong women Spartans. It was pretty funny to watch him try to fight against Jessi and Jessi just shut him down. I wish I could come on your next mission just so I can see it again.” Doc Jen hums in amusement. I turn to her, “Is there something you want to say Doc?” She smiles, “Not in particular. Just enjoying the interactions between you and Chief. It’s fascinating watching Chief with you and your team vs. him with other teams. Oh and dinner is being served. I’m sure the two of you are starving.” She motions to Chief and I, my stomach growls, “Hehe. Yeah I haven’t eaten since this morning.” Doc finishes up Chief and he puts his helmet back on and we walk out with Flynn. We walk into the mess hall and get in line for food, Holland is in front of me, “How was the mission?” I smile, “Besides the commander calling me a cupcake and hating the fact that he had to listen to me, great!” He laughs, “The commander called you a cupcake? Wow what did you do?” Chief pitches in, “She didn’t.” I laugh, “Chief told him off. It was amazing.” I nudge Chief. He looks at me and I just know he’s slightly annoyed with me. We sit down together and and continue talking about the mission. A while later, we’re all at the fire pit enjoying the night and making s’mores. Holland is telling a story and we’re all laughing and having a good time and Heather comes up to us, “Can I join you?” We all look at her then at each other and chuckling, Holland recovers first, “No. You can’t. No one here likes you.” I look at Holland, “What? Someone needed to tell her.” He says innocently. Flynn pats him on the back, “You are far braver than I my friend.” Heather is just standing there mouth agape, “But Kelly!?!? We’re friends.” I look at him, “Kelly Holland. That is a good name.” He looks at me, “Thanks.” He turns to Heather, “No, we aren’t. I babysat you years ago. That was it. Nothing more.” I almost feel bad for Heather for the heart broken look on her face. She runs off crying loudly, we all just go back to how things were. Chief brings it up a little while later, “Don’t you think that was a little harsh, Kel?” He looks at Chief and bites into his s’more, “She wasn’t getting the picture. This was months of frustration with her coming up. She needed to hear the truth.” I shug, “I’ve been trying to tell her to leave me and my team alone and she refuses. Maybe she will now.” I say hopefully. Flynn yawns and I check the time, “Flynn and I have a mission tomorrow we should get some sleep.” Holland and Chief nod, Chief says, “Yeah, me too actually. I’ll walk the two of you back.” Flynn smirks picking up his helmet, “Are you sure it’s us? Or just Jessi?” I blush, hitting him, “Stop that!” Holland and Chief laugh. Holland says, “I had a partner once. We had a very similar relationship. We were basically dating but never actually said it out loud. We were… partners both on the field and in life. So I understand.” He turns to Chief, “You got a great girl here, man. Keep her as long as you can.” A light red brushes across Chief’s face, he wraps an arm around me pulling me in, “That was my plan.” He looks at me, his eyes full of love and admiration. I just hug him tightly. We walk back to the base, Flynn walks into our bunk and pause a second outside to give Chief a kiss and walk in, “Alright boys. We’ve got our first mission tomorrow And it’s gonna be a tough one. But, I know we can do it. I don’t have all of the details yet, we will know more when we are on our way there. Once we get up, we get suited up and head straight to the Pelican, do not pass go, do not get $200.” They laugh at my reference, “We will get food on the ride there. Get some sleep, you will need it.” After that, I change and go to sleep. 

The next morning, we all get up and get in our armor. Before I head to the Pelican, I go to the cemetery. I find my dad’s grave and take my helmet off, “Well dad, I did it. I have my team of Spartans and we’re going on our first mission now. I don’t visit you as much as I should, but I figured you’d want to hear this, if your still paying attention that is. I have to get going. I love you daddy.” I let a tear slip out as I put my helmet back on. I say over the radio as I walk onto the tarmac, “Alright Cortana. Fill us in.” She laughs, “You’re getting as bad as Chief already.” I smirk, “You know how I get when I’ve got a team to get back home in one piece.” She laughs again and starts talking about the mission. We get on the Pelican and take off, I walk up to the cockpit as my team eats, “It’s good to see you again.” The pilot smiles, “Same with you Winters. Always on the move I see.” I laugh, “Apparently so. This time with my team. We’ve got a tough Mission and I’m afraid something’s gonna go wrong and I’m gonna lose one of them or I’ll have to sacrifice myself.” She presses a few buttons, “Isn’t that always the fear? Which would you do?” I think a second, “Sacrifice myself. I have nothing except this team, Sarge and Chief now. They are all I have and I will do anything to make sure they get home.” She nods, “I understand. You’ll do anything for family, even if it means risking your life.” I nod, she continues, “Good luck out there Winters, we are landing now.” I nod and turn back towards where my team is, “It’s go time. And I’m sorry in advance for the Commander.” We land and the bay doors open and we get out. I see the Commander talking with Jenna, “Commander, it’s so good to see you again.” I say with a hint of sarcasm. Jenna and the Commander both turn towards me, “It’s the little Cupcake, with her team. What, No Chief?” Jenna smiles, “It’s good to see you Winters.” I look at the Commander, “He has other business to attend to so they sent me and my team. Jenna, this is my second in command, Flynn.” They shake hands, “It’s a pleasure, yesterday Winters told me all of these good things about you.” He blushes slightly, “Hopefully we can blow your expectations out of the water.” She smiles at him, “I have zero doubts.” A little while later, a technician comes up to us, “Um, Commander, sir.” The Commander looks at him, “What?” The technician gulps, “We just did a systems check on the bomb and it will have to be manually detonated. The remote detonation system is offline and we can’t figure out why or how to turn it back on.” I speak up before the Commander has a chance to answer, “Not a problem, I’ll detonate it.” Everyone including Cortana gasps in shock. “No.” Flynn says. I look at him, “And why not? I’m the only one here who has zero outside of the army. My job is to get all of you home in one piece, no matter the cost. And that’s my plan. I’ll be able to be with my father finally, One of the few places I know I’ll be happy.” I say matter of fact. Dick’s voice cracks, “But what about us? What will we do?” I smile sadly, “You will have each other. Flynn has already shown that he’s a great leader, you will be in great hands when I’m gone.” Flynn says something unexpected, “What about Chief?” I look down, pausing, “He will move on eventually, he always does.” Flynn shakes his head, I look at everyone, “Let’s get this show on the road.” We head over to the area where the bomb is and I strap it to my belt and grab an armor lock add on. I get a look from Flynn and I shrug. As we fight our way to where we need to be for the detonation, I feel myself starting to shake, I’m secretly terrified of what will probably happen. When we get to the point, I turn to my boys, “It’s been a great run boys! I’ll see you all later.” Zack says, “No goodbye?” I look down, “I hate goodbyes. Anyways, If I don’t say goodbye then it isn’t final. You all should get out of here. Radio me when you're out of the building.” They all look down and leave, a few minutes later I get the signal and I detonate the bomb. I say to Cortana, my voice shaking, “Thank you for all of your help. Tell Chief I love him.” She smiles sadly, “I will.” As the timer hits one, I activate the armor lock and get hit with a wave of pain. That’s the last thing I remember.

I wake up. I look around at the rubble of the building I blew up. I’ve been out for... three days. I try to contact someone, no one not even Cortana. My radio must be shot from the explosion, looks like I’m walking back to base. I sit up and move around trying to figure out how many pieces I’m in, I wince. I’ve probably got a broken leg, a dislocated shoulder, and a lot of blood loss, not bad considering. I get up and start limping towards the direction of the base. Four agonizing days later, I walk up to the base and my team is in front moping around. I just stare at them, they changed their armors, Dick has steel with yellow and a red visor, Dev has teal with maroon and a bright green visor, Corey has dark brown with bright blue and a navy blue visor, Flynn has black with cyan highlights and visor, Alex has amber with yellow and a light blue visor, and Zack has cream with raspberry and a sky blue visor. They must really miss me since they aren’t doing much. I smirk, “Miss me, bitches?” I say loudly enough for them to hear me. All of their heads shoot where I’m standing. They all yell in joy and relief and hug me. Ow, but I collapse into them, no longer able to hold my own weight. Flynn says, “Why didn’t you tell us you were alive?” I stabilize myself against a nearby wall as they all pull away, “Radio is shot from the explosion.” I notice another figure standing in the background and look to see who it is. “You’re alive?” He takes off his helmet and drops it as he rushes to me. He hugs me and takes off my helmet, capturing my lips with his. “Hello to you too.” I sass at him. He glares at me and in an outburst of emotion, “That was stupid! You shouldn’t have done that!” I smile, “What was I supposed to do? Let someone else almost die? Or worse? No thanks. And you would have done the same thing.” He looks down, knowing I’m right. He scoops me up, “To Doctor Jensen with you. Flynn grab the helmets please.” He does and we walk into the infirmary. “Well, well, Sarge will be happy one of his best soldiers came back from the dead.” She scans me, “With a few scratches, a dislocated shoulder, and a… broken leg. You made it out fairly unscathed considering that you were that close to a bomb when it exploded. But your suit is basically toast. No worries, it can be fixed.” She gets to work getting me out of my suit and patching me up. I barely even notice when she puts my arm back in the socket but I yelp loudly as she sets my leg. Sarge and Chief both race in, I almost whimper, “I’m fine. Doc Jen was just setting my leg.” Sarge comes to my bedside, “Everyone thought you were dead.” I look at him, “Yeah, me too. Not my time I guess.” I see Sarge starts break down, “Don’t do anything stupid like that again!” I look a little surprised, “Ok, I won’t.” I promise but knowing I would probably have to sacrifice myself again. He regains composure as Doc Jen finishes my leg, “She needs some rest. You can come back later.” Doc Jen says. They both nod and leave. Doc Jen chuckles, “You do have a very interesting effect on those two men.” I look at her, “Huh?” She looks at me, “You are the first one who they both care about in different ways. Sarge looks at you like a daughter, he lost his daughter a covenant attack, and well, Chief loves you more than life itself. You are the first girl that has ever peaked his interest other than Cortana. You really are something special, Ms. Winters. You can make the two toughest men in the entire army, break down completely because they thought you were dead.” My eyes widen, “Really?” She nods taping on a keyboard, “Fascinating, isn’t it?” She almost sings, “Chief was frantic when he couldn’t find you. Flynn had the guts to tell him you were gone. And Chief completely broke down, he didn’t leave his room until he heard your team shout when you finally showed back up. That man really, truly loves you with everything he’s got. It’s really quite amazing to watch.” I look in the direction that Chief went when he left, Doc Jen looks at me, “You obviously love him very much too. He’s a good catch, a lot of girls have tried to be you. Even Heather, while you were presumed dead. Before you, he never even thought to look at girls that way. Then you came along and changed his whole view on the world. He stayed true to you, never faltering, even when he thought you were dead.” There was a pause, “You should tell him how you feel.” I look at her confused, “He knows how I feel.” She doesn’t look away from her screen, “Have you verbally told him?” I shake my head, “No.” She looks at me, “Well you need to. He’s afraid of losing you. You need to make sure he knows that you’re his and only his, or you might lose him. But, maybe later. After you rest, you’ve had a long, painful week. Do you want something to help you sleep?” I nod, “That would be great, and some pain killers? And thanks for the advice, Doc. I needed that.” She smiles as she gives me some pain killers and something to help me sleep, “Any time. If you want to talk, I’m here you don’t have many girls to talk to so you can always join me here and we can talk about anything you want.” I’m about to respond but the sleeping medication kicks in and I doze off into the world of sleep. I wake up really groggy. I sit up and see Chief on one side and Sarge on the other, asleep, in their off duty clothes. I chuckle at the two men, Sarge starts to wake up first, “Huh, I must have dozed off.” That wakes Chief up, “You’re awake.” He says sleepily. I giggle, “so are you both. Barely.” I tease the men. Doc Jen walks in, “Good all three of you are awake. Here are some more pain killers, Jessi. How do you feel?” I rub my eyes, “A little sore and groggy but ok.” She scans me, “That’s great! You should be healed up in no time. Everything seems to be healing properly. You are free to go. Your crutches are at the side of your bed.” I nod swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Chief hands me the crutches, our hands brush and I feel my face heat up as I remember the conversation I had with Doc Jen. Chief smiles at me and helps me get my balance and I hobble off. Chief says, “You should stay with me until you get the cast off.” I nod, “I’d like to see my team.” Chief smiles, “Of course you do. Let’s go.” Sarge puts a hand on my uninjured shoulder, “Sorry about earlier. What you did was to get your team home. I did something similar when I had my own team, years ago. I just felt like I didn’t have anything left to live for but the world told me differently. I just don’t want you to feel like that. You have more than enough to live for. You have your team, Chief, and...” He pauses, “Me.” I nod, Doc Jen was right, “It’s nice knowing that.” I look at him, “Thank you.” I hug him, he tenses up then relaxes into the hug, wrapping his arms around me gently. I now know that I’ve gained a father again. 

Years go by, my cast comes off and I can train again. I get my suit back, brand new with all sorts of cool upgrades. I learn Chief’s name, John. Chief and I and my team and I go out on tons of missions, some of them I almost kill myself, but I always come back, much to Heather’s dismay. Sarge comes up to me, “Jessi, I need you to go on a solo mission. The pelican is ready.” I nod, “Yes sir.” I salute. He winks at me and walks away. I walk to the hanger, smiling, “What’s up, Cort.” Her voice comes over the radio, “Jessi! The commander will be happy to see you again.” I groan, “Why is it always him?” I hear Chief's voice over the radio, “Sarge likes seeing him squirm.” I roll my eyes, I scold, “And where have you been, mister?” He laughs, “This mission is talking longer then expected because of idiots. I don’t like it as much as you do. I would do anything to be with you right now.” He purrs. I hop on to the pelican, “When I finish here, I will come and find you.” I growl playfully. I can hear the smile in his voice, “Please do. Bring your team, we need it. I need it” I blush, “I’ll talk to Sarge. Alright, Cortana, what this mission this time?” She answers, “Extraction of information, in a highly guarded compound.” She sends me the maps of the building and surrounding area, “I’m sure all you need is some help getting in.” I glance through the blueprints, “Yeah, this will be easy. Where is the information stored?” A red dot pops up on the map in the center of the 3D map, “The main hub for the building. Of course. Taking more people in will just put all of us in jeopardy, in alone I go. The Commander won’t be happy.” The Pelican lands and the bay doors open, I shout to the front, “Thanks for the lift.” The Pilot waves and I walk out into the terrain. I’m met by The Commander and Jenna, “The cupcake came alone.” He growls. I laugh, shaking Jenna’s hand, “This Cupcake will and has kicked and saved your ass multiple times, Commander.” I say hastily. I take my gun from off my back and they walk me to where the troops are gathered for the mission, “I’ll need the flash drive for the info. I’m going in alone to lessen risk on all of us.” One of the troopers hands me the flash drive and I put it in a pocket on my suit, “What is our job, then?” I smirk at the young soldier, “You guys get to have all of the fun and kill the covenant out here and make sure that more don’t get in the building. Let’s go.” A girl no older than 16 or 17 comes up to me, “Are you sure you will be ok, Officer Winters?” I look at her, “Doing shit like this is my job. It’s what I’m trained to do, kid.” She looks at me surprised, “Really?” I look up at the building ahead of us, “What’s your name, kid?” She replies, “Sarah Johnson.” I look at her, “Sarah, It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I smile, “When you get enough experience in the field. Stuff like this is a cakewalk. Much to the dismay of my team and partner, I manually detonated a bomb and survived. Twice.” I take off my helmet, “These scars are all of the times that I would have died but didn’t.” She looks at my face, “What happened to your eye?” I laugh, “Shrapnel from one of the bombs destroyed my eye. I should have died that day. But for whatever reason I didn’t.” I slip my helmet back on, “Doing missions like this is a break for me. Especially since I get to meet soldiers like you.” She smiles, I turn around and address the whole group, “Take them out for me.” I point to the hordes of covenant. Within minutes and a little help from me the covenant outside the building are all dead. Over the radio I instruct, “Stay out here. I’m going in.” I ask Cortana, “What’s the deal inside” as I head towards the building. “Going through the front and back doors are suicide. There is side door about 50 meters to your left, you can sneak in and it’s a straight shot to where you need to go.” I smile, cocking my gun, “Roger that.” I find the door and open it to about 20 grunts looking at me, “Thanks for the heads up Cortana.” I say slightly annoyed and jumping out of the way of the fire. “Sorry. I thought you would just figure that the Covenant would be there.” She apologizes. I roll my eyes and kill all of them. “Alright. Now straight right?” I say, “Yes. And there are hostiles ahead.” I nod, “Thanks for the heads up.” I fight my way to the spot I need to be and plug in the flash drive. Cortana warns, “Hostiles entering. Get down.” I do just as I hear the door open. The data transfer finishes and I grab the drive and come back the way I came. I exit the building and Sarah comes up to me, “Did you get the info.” I pat a pocket, “Right here. Now let’s go.” I give the signal to the rest of the group and we head back to the camp. I hand the drive to the Commander as I radio my ride, “Mission complete. now get me out of here.” A familiar voice comes over the radio, “On our way, Officer Winters.” I smile, “Chief! How did you...” He cuts me off, “I just finished my mission too. And you just happen to be on the way back.” The Pelican lands and the bay door open to reveal a very tired looking Chief. I run to him almost knocking him off of his feet, he chuckles wrapping his arms tightly around me, “I’ve missed you too.” The bay doors close and I slip off his helmet and take mine off, our lips meet for the first time in weeks. We land and walk onto the hanger holding hands and our helmets under the other arm. We head to the infirmary to get patched up, Doc Jen face brighten when she sees us, “My two favorite people came back!” She smiles and gets to work on us. “It’s good to see you too, Mal. It’s nice to know that the doctor that is treating me is competent.” I look at him wide eyed, “Even the medic was incompetent?” He nods, “Unfortunately.” Doc Jen laughs, “I’m glad I meet your standards, Chief.” She looks at my eye, “Has any sight returned to your eye?” I shake my head, she hums thinking, she dabs at a scratch with cleaning alcohol, “It’s been long enough that you may not get your sight back in that eye. Do you care?” I shake my head again, “No, not really. It hasn’t hurt my performance so.” She smirks at me, “On missions or in bed with...” she motions towards Chief. Chief laughs and I turn bright red, “Missions.” Chief looks over at me, “Her performance in bed hasn’t decreased either.” I feel my face heat up more, “Not helping, you ass.” He rolls his eyes, “Didn’t realize I was suppose to be.” He flirts. I, half joking, say, “Your such a horny bastard.” He says dramatically, “What do you expect from me? I haven’t even seen a woman, much less you, in weeks!” Doc Jen laughs, “You both are free to go. Stay safe you two” I groan as I walk out, “Both of you need to stop.” He wraps an arm around me, pulling me close, I try to get away, “It’s your turn to be the submissive.” He growls in my ear. I feel a familiar knot in my stomach, “I won’t go quietly.” He smirks, evilly, “I’m counting on it.” I feel my heart flutter in excitement. We get to his room and he shoves me on to his bed and starts to take off his armor, “Take your armor off.” I shake my head defiantly and pout, His eyes light up with playfulness and lust, “Now.” He growls again, this time there’s something animalistic, primal. I reluctantly obey his order. Tonight is going to be a fun night. A little later, we both collapse onto the bed, tired and sweaty, him on top of me, “That was… amazing” he barely whispers. “Ya, it was.” I say hoarsely. He rolls off of me, “I’m gonna take a shower. You can just relax.” He strokes my face, lovingly. I just nod. I hear him walk away and the shower turn on. I sit up, tearing a paper towel off of the roll and clean myself up, trying to get my bearings again. I hear the shower turn off and I walk into the bathroom. Chief is drying his hair only a towel on. I hop in the shower and yelp at the cold water, Chief chuckles, “Obviously you don’t take cold showers.” I turn up the water temperature, “No I don’t. My muscles ache too much at the end of the day for that. And I’m not a freak of nature like you.” I tease. He sticks his head in the shower and I flick him with water, “Really? And you’re a freak of nature too.” I lather my hair with the shampoo/conditioner that Chief uses, “I know that. I said ‘I’m not a freak of nature  like you ’.” I smirk as I wash out of my hair. “Humph. Be that way.” He pouts. I turn off the water and grab the towels that Chief was just using. I wrap one around my body and the other one I use to dry my hair. I feel arms wrap around me from behind, “You are so beautiful. You know that, right?” He purrs in my ear. I blush as I hang up the towel I was drying my hair with. I nod, a little lost for words in the moment. I mumble, unsure of the words I’m saying, “I love you, John.” He kisses my neck, “I love you too, Jessi.” My heart skips a beat in the moment of silence that came after. He spins me around and close the gap between us. The towel around me drops and he scoops me up in his arms. He carries me to his bed and lays me down, he crawls in next to me, “We finally have a day off together tomorrow. Let’s stay here and watch movies all day.” I curl up next to him, wrapping my arms around his waist, “I’d love that.” I say sleepily. He kisses my forehead and pulls me towards him, “But now, it’s time for both of us to sleep.” I mumble something that I didn’t even understand and drift off to sleep. The next day, I wake up to Chief kissing my face. I groan, and turn over, “Leave me alone. I’m sleeping.” He kisses my neck and I swat at him. I feel his hands trace down a scar on my hip and nip my neck. I groan again, “What the fuck do you want?” He smiles, “You.” I roll my eyes and roll on my back, “I am trying to catch up on the sleep that has been non-existent to me for the past few weeks. Leave me alone.” He pouts, “But I made you breakfast.” I sit up and see him with just pants on. He offers me one of his shirts and I put it on. I find my discarded underwear from last night and put it on. I walk over to the couch and sit down and Chief comes over with a tray filled with the most amazing smelling food. “Wow! This smells amazing!” I take the plate from him and dig in, “Mmm. John, why didn’t you tell me you could cook?” He looks at me with love in his eyes, “It’s just a hobby. It helps me destress. I’m glad you like it.” He kisses my forehead and sits down next to me and eats his food. We spend the rest of the day laughing and watching movies. We fall asleep on the couch. I wake up the next day curled up next to Chief still on the couch. I shift and Chief strokes my head, “Good you’re up.” He smiles, “We should grab some breakfast.” I nod, sitting up, “Yesterday was fun.” He kisses my temple and gets up. He starts putting his suit on and I follow his lead. We walk into the mess hall and get in line for food. My team gets in line behind us, “Hey guys.” I say. I get tackled by Flynn and Corey. I giggle, hugging them, “What’s this for, boys?” Flynn blushes a little, “We missed you a lot.” I smile, “You boys make me feel so loved.” Chief chuckles, “You forgot after so long, haven’t you?” I look at him and around to my team, “What are you talking about?” Zack hold out a small, wrapped box, “Happy birthday.” I look at him wide eyed, “I never told you when it was.” Flynn spoke, “I may have looked in your file.” I roll my eyes and take the present, “Thank you.” I smile, “This means so much to me.” We get our food and I open my present, “I love it thank you boys.” It’s a locket with a picture of me and my whole team. Chief clears his throat and I turn towards him and gasp. Chief is there on one knee next to me holding a small box with a ring in it, “Please, Jessi, make me the luckiest man in the galaxy.” I can't seem to find my voice so I just tackle him. His eyes light up, “I’ll take that as a yes?” I laugh pulling away, “Yes, you idiot!” I say as he slips the ring on my finger. I kiss him as he stands up. He pulls me in, “I’ve already talked to Sarge. Not just is he ok with it, he suggested that he walks you down the aisle in place of your father.” I beam, “That would be amazing.” The rest of the day I’m walking on air. I’m walking to the training room and I see Sarge and walk up to him, “Thanks.” He looks at me smiling, “You’re very welcome. You know, he came to me and asked as if i was your father and not your superior. I couldn’t say no to that.” I smile, “For both things. My father would have wanted it this way if he couldn’t be here.” I hug him. He hugs back, “I never got to do this with my daughter, she died in an attack so this is almost like making up for that. Well, and helping an old friend.” We wave goodbye and I walk into the training room. Holland walks up to me, “Congrats!” I smile, “Thanks Kelly.” I motion to the ring, “Wanna go?” I say playfully. He laughs, “You’re on!” We dance around a bit, throwing punches and dodging, not really hitting each other. I get an idea, I look at him slyly, “You’ve been hanging out with that Jackson girl a lot.” He looks at me, “Ya, so. She’s on my team, my second in command, and a great girl. What’s your point?” I smirk, “I noticed you sneak off a lot with her. I don’t do that with my second, Flynn.” His eyes widen at his realization of what I’m saying, he launches at me, “You little…!” I hop out of the ring and dash out of the room with Holland hot on my tail. I run outside and launch myself over Chief who is doing pushups near the door. He looks up confused then sees Holland running after me. I bolt into the woods on the far side of the training yard, I get just out of eyesight of Holland and jump up in a tree and catch my breath. He comes running in the area I jumped up moments after I’m completely hidden, “Jessi! I will find you!” I snicker as he runs off, deeper in the forest. I wait a moment and jump down and head back to the base. I walk up to Chief and he looks at me, “What? We were training and I started to tease him about Anna.” I smile, “Apparently it's a touchy subject for him.” Chief shakes his head laughing, “You never cease to amaze me Jessi.” He pulls me in for a tight hug. I hear Holland’s voice calling my name, “Shit! Gotta run. I’ll catch up with you later, if I’m not dead that is.” I start making my way inside, “I love you.” I call at Chief over my shoulder. He chuckles, “I love you too.” I grab my journal and head to the roof. I sit writing for a while when I hear the door open, “There you are.” I hear Holland growl. I look at him and smile. I stand up slowly, putting my journal in my back pocket, I put my hands up, “You got me.” He starts coming towards me and I slowly back up. I get to the edge of the one story building and “trip” off the building. The look on his face is priceless when I land on my feet and take off, “You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!” I call back at him. I hear his frustrated yell, “Get back here!!” I laugh and pick up the pace. I find my team in the training room with Holland hot on my tail, “Help” I say out of breath. They look at me, “With…?” Alex starts to ask, but they hear holland, “Jessica!! Get back here!” I look back from where I came, “Him!” I squeak and I hide behind Dev, laughing. All six of them get in defensive stances as soon as Holland came into the room, “I know she’s in here.” Flynn asks, “Why do you want her?” Holland looks at him, “None of your business.” I pitch in, “I was teasing him about Anna.” Holland launches at me and Flynn and Dev hold him back and I squeak again. Chief walks in, “She does have a point Kel. You have been spending a lot of time with her.” Holland turns fuming but realizes it’s Chief who said it, “Come on, Chief. Don’t side with Jessi.” He smirks, “And why not?” He says simply, “Is she wrong?” Holland’s eyes then he looks down, embarrassed, “No.” Anna walks in, “Wrong about what?” She asks. Holland’s face turns bright red, “It’s nothing.” Corey smirks, “Holland has a crush on you.” Holland glares daggers into Corey, Anna pauses for a moment, “I knew that already.” She smiles and Holland’s jaw drops, “I was just hoping he would tell me.” Her face turns red. Holland shakes his head, “Wait? You have a crush on me?” She rubs the back of her neck, “Have since we met. Never had the guts to tell you though.” He smiles relieved and pulls her into a tight hug, “I’m so glad you feel the same way.” She smiles and buries her face in his shoulder, “Me too.” I cheer, “Called it!” Everyone laughs.

After that, the next few months go fast, missions and wedding planning. The week before the wedding, I’m sent out on a fairly dangerous mission. The mission goes really well and I get on the plane to head back, the pilot asks, “Don’t you want to wait to fly back tomorrow?” I smile, “Nope! I’m getting married tomorrow. I have to get back as soon as possible.” She smiles, “Congrats! Who’s the lucky guy?” I feel my face heat up a little, “Master Chief.” He looks at me, genuinely surprised, “Really?! Wow! He’s quite a catch. Who proposed?” I laugh, “He did. He is surprisingly romantic when he wants to be.” She laughs too, “Well then. Full speed ahead. Let’s get you to that wedding.” She gets me back in record time. I walk into my bunk and my team looks at me for a second, then tackles me. I laugh, “Hi boys.” We talk for a bit but then go to sleep. I wake up the next day to the boys buzzing around getting dressed. I get out of bed and get dressed myself. After that I shout, “listen up team!” All six boys line up. I walk down the line, “Now, none of you are to tell John I am here. He does not know I’m back and I don’t want him too, all of the staff have been notified of the same thing.” They all shout, “Yes Ma’am” I smile, “Good! Now let's get this show on the road. Get to work.” They disperse. The next few hours are busy. I finally get into the room where I get dressed. The dress is put on and my hair and makeup are done. Sarge walks into the room and the look in his eyes says it all, “You made it back in time.” I nod, “I had a great pilot and she got me back in enough time to get some sleep too.” He hugs me, “He’ll be so happy you made it on time. Oh, and everything is ready. Are you ready?” I smile, “I don’t think I’ve ever been this ready.” Tears of joy come to his eyes as he pulls back and looks at me, “Good. You look so beautiful.” I feel my eyes well up, “Stop that! You’ll make me cry and ruin my makeup.” We both laugh. My wedding planner comes in, “All we need is you darling. You ready?” I nod and take the Sarge’s arm. We get into place. As I walk down the aisle, John turns around as the music starts and he sees me. The look on his face was everything that I was hoping for, the look in his eyes was one of love and surprise that I made it on time. When I get up to him, he looks at me, “You made it on time.” He whispers in my ear. I nod, “Got in last night. I instructed everyone to not tell you.” I have to hold back a giggle at the fake hurt in his eyes. The ceremony was nothing special, Holland officiated. It started off with him talking about love, then the vows, then the I do’s, then the kiss. Simple just how we wanted it. Then we head to the reception, it was basically a giant dance party with really great food. We danced and ate the night away. After the reception is finished, we headed out to the ship waiting for us to take us to our honeymoon. 

The two weeks are great, we relax, have a little too much fun in bed, and just spend time together. When we get back, we are both ready to start our new lives together at the base. After we get back, we go back to how things were, training and learning about missions, the only difference is that John and I now live in a small house on the outskirts of the base. The rest of it is the same, my team, John, Sarge, except that my motivation has changed, now I want to come back. I found my family, my reason to live. I see my mother and sisters in the square when I’m shopping 2 years after I get married. My oldest sister hugs me, “How have you been? You look amazing!” I smile, “I’m great! Got married and have twins now and pregnant with a third. The army has also treated me really well. How are you doing?” Her smile gets wider, “That’s great! I’m so happy your doing so well. Well, I’m doing alright. I’m still living with mom, but that’s because she needs to be taken care of and almost all of the funds from dad are dried up. That’s from mine, hers and our three other sisters. She tried to get to your’s but couldn’t.” I smile, “I know. Dad made the only two people on my account me and him. I added John later.” She nods, “That was smart. I wish he had done that for me.” I hear my twins yell, “Mommy!” I smile as I see them running towards me and John not far behind. The twins look at my sisters, the other three walk up, “Who are they, mommy?” Sarah asks. I look at them, “These are your aunties I tell you about.” I look at my sisters, and all of their faces brighten up when I say that. I say, “I want you guys in their life. They need that family connection.” They all nod, the second oldest says, “We would love that.”


End file.
